macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[avz]

You are almost there, but you need also to replace the IOSurface.kext patched from @ASentientBot , otherwise kernel panic when you attempt to load gpu framebuffer/acceleration.

About CoreDisplay and Skylight are constantly in use by the system they can only replaced in single user mode (or replaced by copy booting from another macOS HigherSierra Finder)

I do this way, using the CoreDisplay.framework and Skylight.framework (privateframework) both patched by @ASentientBot, I rename them in .framework2 and copy inside their respective Frameworks/Privateframeworks, then I reboot in single user mode (CMD+S) and type from Shell:

mount -uw /
cd /S*/L*/Frameworks/
mv CoreDisplay.framework CoreDisplay.backup
mv CoreDisplay.framework2 CoreDisplay.framework
cd /S*/L*/PrivateFrameworks/
mv SkyLight.framework SkyLight.backup
mv SkyLight.framework2 SkyLight.framework
exit

I have done IOSurface.kext one of the first. I was actually able to replace SkyLight.framework but the system caught me on CoreDisplay.framework.
I have a patched CoreDisplay sitting on my Desktop.
Which commands do I need from a single user to put it in a /S/L/F?
And the real question now: is it safe to do a hard power down as this seems the only option to get to the Single user mode?

 

[jackluke]

I have done IOSurface.kext one of the first. I was actually able to replace SkyLight.framework but the system caught me on CoreDisplay.framework.
I have a patched CoreDisplay sitting on my Desktop.
Which commands do I need from a single user to put it in a /S/L/F?
And the real question now: is it safe to do a hard power down as this seems the only option to get to the Single user mode?

You need also these two from Mojave 10.14.3 OpenGL.framework and GPUSupport.framework (privateframework) otherwise no loginUI, and these two can be also replaced on-the-fly from Catalina Finder in case.

If you rename from desktop the CoreDisplay.framework2 you can copy it from Catalina Finder in SLF, then you rename/move it from single user mode, also keeping a backup of Catalina one with previous commands.

But surely at 100% CoreDisplay and SkyLight cannot be replaced on-the-fly, if done they just corrupt.

 

[arqueox]

E

You need also these two from Mojave 10.14.3 OpenGL.framework and GPUSupport.framework (privateframework) otherwise no loginUI, and these two can be also replaced on-the-fly from Catalina Finder in case.

If you rename from desktop the CoreDisplay.framework2 you can copy it from Catalina Finder in SLF, then you rename/move it from single user mode, also keeping a backup of Catalina one with previous commands.

But surely at 100% CoreDisplay and SkyLight cannot be replaced on-the-fly, if done they just corrupt.

Even with these commands in single user mode @jackluke ?

chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extensions/
chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions/
exit

Oh I just saw you were talking about the frameworks. Theses commands are for the kexts, right?

 

[pkouame]

Wait, wasn't there a post in which somebody managed to get it running by rsync-ing files from the APFS partitions or something? I can't find it now but I could've sworn it happened.

Paging APFS experts @Starplayr and @jackluke...

My have been me. I used rsync on my early attempts @ manually re-creating an APFS Catalina volume structure from scratch using a method that works for Mojave. Never got it to work correctly because of the extra Data Volume. So resorted to creating a boot image on a supported machine then block copying (using dd) the whole thing to my mbp 5,3.

 

[jackluke]

My have been me. I used rsync on my early attempts @ manually re-creating an APFS Catalina volume structure from scratch using a method that works for Mojave. Never got it to work correctly because of the extra Data Volume. So resorted to creating a boot image on a supported machine then block copying (using dd) the whole thing to my mbp 5,3.

I thought he referred to clone APFS Catalina in HFS+, anyway re-reading that post "Catalina in HFS Howto", seems the method is not working, even if apparently booted from Catalina HFS+ / .

 

[pkouame]

I thought he referred to clone APFS Catalina in HFS+, anyway re-reading that post "Catalina in HFS Howto", seems the method is not working, even if apparently booted from Catalina HFS+ / .

At this point are there any reasons to stick with old HFS+?

 

[toru173]

I thought he referred to clone APFS Catalina in HFS+, anyway re-reading that post "Catalina in HFS Howto", seems the method is not working, even if apparently booted from Catalina HFS+ / .

I can clone a Catalina install to HFS, but I’m still working on installing directly to HFS+ using a patched installer. I’m sure I’ll get there!

 

[jackluke]

I can clone a Catalina install to HFS, but I’m still working on installing directly to HFS+ using a patched installer. I’m sure I’ll get there!

I haven't tested yet your method APFS-to-HFS (ditto-clone), since I don't have available external disk to where test, but I read from your link that CCC team has dropped the conversion from APFS to HFS (where it worked till Mojave).

But yes, from your pictures (the RAID volume too) you are booting from Catalina HFS+ / .

 

[Eschers]

I can clone a Catalina install to HFS, but I’m still working on installing directly to HFS+ using a patched installer. I’m sure I’ll get there!

Great!

 

[avz]

You need also these two from Mojave 10.14.3 OpenGL.framework and GPUSupport.framework (privateframework) otherwise no loginUI, and these two can be also replaced on-the-fly from Catalina Finder in case.

If you rename from desktop the CoreDisplay.framework2 you can copy it from Catalina Finder in SLF, then you rename/move it from single user mode, also keeping a backup of Catalina one with previous commands.

But surely at 100% CoreDisplay and SkyLight cannot be replaced on-the-fly, if done they just corrupt.

After a hard power down my CoreDisplay.framework got corrupted, so no acceleration. Nevertheless, some progress, I am posting this from a Catalina on a MacBook5,1.

 

[jackluke]

After a hard power down my CoreDisplay.framework got corrupted, so no acceleration. Nevertheless, some progress, I am posting this from a Catalina on a MacBook5,1.

View attachment 843381

If you replaced all the mentioned frameworks, then to achieve acceleration on your 9400M (Tesla) you'd need these extensions from HighSierra (or maybe retrieving from a Patched Mojave):
IOGraphicsFamily.kext, IONDRVSupport.kext, GeForceTesla.kext (ASentientBot patched one), GeForceTeslaGLDriver.bundle, GeForceTeslaVADriver.bundle, NVDANV50HalTesla.kext, NVDAResmanTesla.kext

 

[avz]

If you replaced all the mentioned frameworks, then to achieve acceleration on your 9400M (Tesla) you'd need these extensions from HighSierra (or maybe retrieving from a Patched Mojave):
IOGraphicsFamily.kext, IONDRVSupport.kext, GeForceTesla.kext (ASentientBot patched one), GeForceTeslaGLDriver.bundle, GeForceTeslaVADriver.bundle, NVDANV50HalTesla.kext, NVDAResmanTesla.kext

Thanks, I was wondering about them and guessing it is possible to get clamshell mode going as well.
But for the time being my CoreDisplay.framework is definitely corrupted. As you can see I am missing left top row from a menu bar:

Would you be able to confirm these commands from a single user mode:

mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/

To remove the corrupted framework:

rm -R CoreDisplay.framework

To rename the patched one from CoreDisplay.framework2 to CoreDisplay.framework:

mv CoreDisplay.framework2 CoreDisplay.framework

exit

Is this correct?

I got backups of original ones in documents.

 

[jackluke]

Thanks, I was wondering about them and guessing it is possible to get clamshell mode going as well.
But for the time being my CoreDisplay.framework is definitely corrupted. As you can see I am missing left top row from a menu bar:
View attachment 843390

Would you be able to confirm these commands from a single user mode:

mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/

To remove the corrupted framework:

rm -R CoreDisplay.framework

To rename the patched one from CoreDisplay.framework2 to CoreDisplay.framework:

mv CoreDisplay.framework2 CoreDisplay.framework

exit

Is this correct?

I got backups of original ones in documents.

Claimshell mode using these: IOGraphicsFamily and IONDRVSupport from HighSierra 10.13.6 as you did for Mojave, without NDRVShim.kext

But for clamshell mode you'd need also to replace: AppleGraphicsControl.kext (with its plugins), AGPM.kext, AppleMCCSControl.kext all these from HighSierra too

I don't think is corrupted your CDisplay, they are just some minimal glitches without framebuffer/acceleration loaded.

The commands are correct.

 

[avz]

Claimshell mode using these: IOGraphicsFamily and IONDRVSupport from HighSierra 10.13.6 as you did for Mojave, without NDRVShim.kext

But for clamshell mode you'd need also to replace: AppleGraphicsControl.kext (with its plugins), AGPM.kext, AppleMCCSControl.kext all these from HighSierra too

I don't think is corrupted your CDisplay, they are just some minimal glitches without framebuffer/acceleration loaded.

The commands are correct.

It seems that something is wrong as now I can actually copy CoreDisplay.framework to /S/L/F and it does it very quickly in Finder without even asking for my password but then it remains the same size and version as it was before copying. Are you sure it is a normal behaviour?

 

[nandor690]

For anyone interested in the SkyLight/CoreDisplay wrappers, I've just finished a couple updates:
- Fixed logout/switch user (it previously just hung forever) by implementing SLSSessionSwitchToAuditSessionIDWithOptions() with a call to the older SLSSessionSwitchToAuditSessionID(), rather than just an empty stub function. It always uses the "cube" transition effect though for some reason.
- Stopped daemon PerfPowerServices from repeatedly crashing by exporting some string constants it was looking for (this noticeably improves performance by preventing ReportCrash from constantly starting, even though the actual daemon seems unnecessary).
- Stopped daemon universalaccessd from repeatedly crashing by creating a stub function that does nothing.
- Added a few other stub functions based on differences between symbol dumps (nm -gU) of the two SkyLight versions. As nothing was complaining about missing these functions, I'm not sure if this actually helped at all.

Please test and report any crashes if you can. Known problems:
- I'm having trouble reimplementing the function SLSSetDockRectWithOrientation() which means that the Dock won't "collide" with windows properly just yet. This is a fairly minor glitch, though.
- The option to auto-switch between dark/light theme will most likely not work since it calls a couple new SkyLight functions, which I have currently only implemented as empty stubs.
- Hopper Disassembler v4 crashes pretty frequently on the patched system... not sure whether it's caused by these patches or an incompatibility with Catalina itself. If someone on a supported Mac could test it, that would be great.
- I've experienced a couple times TextEdit freezing for several seconds. I'm not sure the cause.
- Photos crashing due to its use of Metal. This is unrelated to my patches but I'll look into a fix at some point.

I think that the stability of a system with replaced SkyLight is finally approaching usability as a daily driver!
Enjoy

Edit: Attaching the full wrapped frameworks rather than just the binary. As before, if you have working framebuffer, you should be able to just place these into /S*/L*/Frameworks and PrivateFrameworks to get full acceleration!

Edit 2: Look at all these apps being transparent and not crashing and stuff! Yay!
View attachment 842600

Does this fix work on any older nVidia? Like the stock nVidia GeForce 120 on a 5,1 Mac Pro?

 

[jackluke]

It seems that something is wrong as now I can actually copy CoreDisplay.framework to /S/L/F and it does it very quickly in Finder without even asking for my password but then it remains the same size and version as it was before copying. Are you sure it is a normal behaviour?

I guess no, re-download and re-replace the frameworks using these: Catalina patched frameworks

Use directly those, but I repeat you can't replace them from Catalina Finder, otherwise they corrupt after copy.

 

[0134168]

No luck in a Macbook Pro 17" 2011. Installation freeze and reboot in minute 3. Will keep trying.

 

[jhowarth]

I thought the fourth time might be a charm because it went through the entire install as normal BUT on the first full boot the progress bar sticks 10 mm from the end or at the end. This is MP 3,1 with APFS and NVMe boot patches and a flashed NVidia 680.
Safe boot does not work.
I might connect to a supported Mac with Catalina View attachment 843350 and run DU on it to see if it needs a repair. So close but no cigar yet.

Is this on an NVMe drive? If so have you tried a drive on SATA or USB to see if that makes a difference?

 

[ASentientBot]

Does this fix work on any older nVidia? Like the stock nVidia GeForce 120 on a 5,1 Mac Pro?

If you can get the framebuffer loaded, I don't see why not.

Does it work with the nVidia Tesla fix for Mojave? If so, it should work on Catalina too.

 

[GSXB]

I’ve downloaded “dosdudes” partial patcher, the macOS beta app is in my desktop.
The patcher runs and patches the base system.dmg and restores it, then fails when it tries to mount the system
.dmg ????
Any thoughts
5 attempts all failed ????

 

[TimothyR734]

I got Cat installed on my MacBook 5,2 got almost to the end of stage 2 of the boot process black screen Apple logo then reboots reminds me of 10.14.4

 

[avz]

Thanks to all the usual suspects! @jackluke your comments are always spot on! Clamshell mode, audio, wi-fi, iSight, everything is working!

 

[jackluke]

I got Cat installed on my MacBook 5,2 got almost to the end of stage 2 of the boot process black screen Apple logo then reboots reminds me of 10.14.4

It's the Core2Duo panic, delete telemetry plugin, after power-on holding CMD+S till you reach the Shell then type:

mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/UserEventPlugins/
rm -R com.apple.telemetry.plugin
exit

 

[nandor690]

It's the Core2Duo panic, delete telemetry plugin, after power-on holding CMD+S till you reach the Shell then type:

mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/UserEventPlugins/
rm -R com.apple.telemetry.plugin
exit

I’ll have to try this on my 2007 iMac when I get home. I was having the same exact problem. I have a T9300 installed in it

 

[TimothyR734]

It's the Core2Duo panic, delete telemetry plugin, after power-on holding CMD+S till you reach the Shell then type:

mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/UserEventPlugins/
rm -R com.apple.telemetry.plugin
exit

Now it won't get past the first stage of the boot process white screen black apple logo after removing the telemetry plugin